Accessory Review

TuneView USB

In March, I reviewed Keyspan’s TuneView—an iPod Dock and RF remote
control combo that allows your iPod to connect to a stereo system via
its line level output and navigation with a remote that sports its own
LCD display for browsing the iPod’s menu. I mentioned in that review
that Keyspan would soon release the TuneView USB to be used directly
with iTunes instead of an iPod.

Though the product names have been flopped a little bit (the original
TuneView is now called TuneView for iPod, and the TuneView USB is now
simply called TuneView), the USB version is now available.

The TuneView (originally named the TuneView USB) remote control is
the same as the one used for the TuneView for iPod. The receiver is
a device a bit larger than most USB thumb drives and attaches to a
computer with a standard USB type A to type B cable.

This review is really more of an update to March’s review because the TuneView USB
is functionally identical to the iPod version. Thus, allow me to point
you to that review for a refresher.

Having now tried both the versions of the TuneView, I must stress that
there are some distinct factors to consider when choosing which is best
for your needs. Obviously, if you do not have a 4G or 5G iPod, a 1G or
2G iPod nano, or an iPod mini, there’s no point in choosing the iPod
version. Because I do not have access to a 6G iPod classic, iPod touch,
or 3G iPod nano, I can’t confirm whether line level audio output will
work from these devices, but most people are aware by now that video
output from these models only works with Apple’s A/V cables that contain
the decoder chip. It could be that Apple’s cables can be used with the
TuneView Dock just the same as an Apple Dock. I just have no way to test
this.

If, however, you are using a compatible iPod, the TuneView for iPod
might be the better way to easily get video to your television. With the
TuneView USB, either your computer has to be in the vicinity of your
home entertainment system, or you’ll need a length of quality cable to
send both audio and video to the system.

In my situation, the only videos I manage with iTunes are podcasts that
I generally watch right on my computer. So my needs were limited to
sending music tracks to my living room. Rather than running long cables
from the den, I instead use my Apple AirPort Express to stream music
wirelessly. Once it’s set up, the small remote is all I need to browse
and play any track from my library of more than 7,700 tracks.

In order to communicate with your iTunes library, the TuneView USB
remote control must be paired with your computer. This is accomplished
with a receiver that attaches to your computer’s USB port, and a fairly
light footprint background application to manage the connection. Once
you pair the remote control to the computer and let the software perform
a snapshot of your iTunes library, it’s rare that you’ll have to open
the utility panel again. In the rare case the remote isn’t seeing your
most recently added tracks, you need only update the snapshot, and you
can do so from the remote’s Wizard screen.

On the topic of snapshotting your library, there was a time during the
beta testing period that insane amounts of time were required to process
a library as big as mine, but Keyspan worked on this problem. By the
time the TuneView USB was released, it was capable of running the
snapshot of my entire library in about 45 seconds.

I have a few minor points of contention about the TuneView USB. While
it’s $30 cheaper than its iPod-loving cousin, it really isn’t an
inexpensive solution for remote control of your music. However, I
continue to acknowledge, as I did with the TuneView for iPod, that the
cost to integrate the two-way RF communication and the LCD screen for
the interface probably comes at a premium. With that in mind, I don’t
think either TuneView model is unfairly priced, and I’ve not seen a
comparable hardware product available any cheaper.

Another issue would be easily remedied with a firmware update to the
remote control—the TuneView USB lacks the feature to jump to the
beginning of a specific letter in a library list. It does allow jumping
to the beginning, middle, or end of a list, but that’s not enough for
large libraries. The TuneView for iPod firmware already has the alphabet
jump capability, so I see no excuse why the USB version does not.

From a pure aesthetic point of view, I wish the USB receiver were a
self-contained dongle. Currently, it ships as a module as wide as my
four fingers, and it must be attached with a standard USB cable (one is
included with the TuneView). I suppose, in some situations, the cable
attachment might be the better choice, but I’d rather be able to plug
the whole receiver as a dongle directly into a USB port without a cable.
A USB extension could instead be bundled for cases where positioning the
receiver elsewhere is desired.

When you set up a batch of songs to be played, via the remote, the
TuneView software automatically places all the desired tracks in a new
iTunes playlist called TuneView. I’m not entirely certain why this is
necessary, but it’s not generally something that’s a problem unless you
choose an existing playlist that has many songs in it. When you do,
it’ll take a few moments to populate the TuneView playlist with all the
tracks.

In the course of the past two months of using the TuneView USB, there
were a couple of instances when the TuneView system apparently froze up
when this playlist population step took place. I had to reset the
remote’s pairing with the TuneView software to regain access. It is this
scenario alone that confirmed my decision to rate the TuneView as Good
instead of Very Nice.

If you happen to own an iPhone or iPod touch, you already have a much
more sophisticated remote control and would only require Alloysoft’s
Signal software to take
control of your iTunes library.

Otherwise, the TuneView USB functions adequately to provide a high level
of iTunes control when your situation does not allow you to see and use
the iTunes or Front Row interface.